a peek inside the fishbowl

The Thailand diaries continue! To read past posts in this series, click here.

In the most recent chapter in this series, the youngest daughter and I had just visited Big Buddha, a religious site in Phuket, Thailand. Thankfully, we found our driver waiting for us in the parking lot, just as he had promised. (Phew.)

Until that moment I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to book the return part of our little excursion. I assumed I’d just book a ride on the Thai-Uber app and that he’d be the driver, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

As we approached the car, he turned to me and made me an offer: If I just paid in cash, he’d take us back to our residence but include a stop at Wat Chalong, a historical landmark and Buddhist temple in Phuket. The dollar figure would be the same as what we’d paid for the drive there.

I briefly conferred with the youngest, checked my cash reserves, and agreed to the deal. After all, we were planning on visiting a temple at some point, right?

THIS IS TRUST, MY FRIENDS.

But the youngest was not happy with me.

“Mum,” she said afterwards. “If I accepted a ride in a foreign country and paid under the table for it you would probably be mad.” Then she pointed out that ride-sharing apps have security features built into them. If we went missing we’d have a record of the transaction as well as our route. (In other words, plenty of clues for the Thai police to follow if we went missing.)

Of course she was right, but this conversation didn’t happen until we got home.

The drive to Wat Chalong was as scenic as the drive to Big Buddha. And when we arrived, well, let’s just say I was agog the entire time. It was so gorgeous I have no words to describe it. It was a postcard come to life.

So, yes. I took a chance and no one died!

That night we went to Patong Beach and marvelled at a sunset that glowed with a million colours. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

(Click here to watch a time-lapse I took at the beach.)

Romance, tragedy, science… this ballad has it all. https://t.co/TR8YoBleKs

— andrea tomkins (@missfish) January 30, 2020

• What Does It Mean to Have a Serious Drinking Problem, nytimes.com
• How to Write 10,000 Words a Week, medium.com
• I used to believe safe drug sites were bad, but I was wrong, calgaryherald.com
• The ‘downsizing’ trend is an insult to young and poor renters, theguardian.com
• Keeping Aging Muscles Fit Is Tied to Better Heart Health Later, nytimes.com
• Anne Dagg, Queen of Giraffes, appointed to Order of Canada among recipients with global influence, nationalpost.com

On the nightstand: The Body: A Guide for Occupants

The Thailand diaries continue! To read past posts in this series, click here.

Some of you MAY HAVE ALREADY DEDUCED that I was, er, SLIGHTLY anxious at almost every turn during this holiday. I shared photos from our trip on Twitter while we were there and someone said I was brave. BRAVE. Ha. HAHA. I replied that I am definitely not brave, just curious. Bravery is saving someone from a burning building, not using a credit card to book a flight and then walk around a foreign country.

Our PM plan on this day was to visit Big Buddha, a famous site in Phuket.

While we lounged by our pool that morning I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out the best way to get there. I did not see an easy way, and what I did find was booked up. So, upon the advice from someone on TripAdvisor, I downloaded the Thai version of Uber, plugged in a credit card (BTW one didn’t work, one did), and hailed a ride that way.

I don’t think I really need to point out how worried I was throughout this whole Thai ride-sharing process, but I will. For starters: we were two women, about to get into a car – THAT LOCKS – with a STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, trusting that we’d arrive at a distant place, safely, in one piece.

There was no getting around without trust, is there? Sigh.

However, the rational side of me understood that if I let my worries take over we would never see or do anything. I also remembered that a long time ago I promised myself that I wouldn’t let fear make my decisions for me, so, I had no choice but to soldier on if we wanted to see Big Buddha. And you know what? Everything was fine, in fact, it was more than fine.

Spoiler alert: I put aside my fear and was rewarded with one of the most memorable days on our trip.

First of all, the drive. It took about an hour and it was pretty cool, along twisty mountain roads with sights to be seen out either window. Whether it was vegetation, water, or a cityscape, there was always something interesting to absorb:

I wish I had photos of the last bit of road to Big Buddha and the parking lot next to it. It’s a single, narrow, winding two-lane road with a lot of trees and a few small hotels along the way and then BOOM there you are. In a parking lot. Thankfully, our driver told us he’d wait for us, which is great because I was seriously wondering how we were going to get back to our residence. (TRUST, ANDREA.)

Here is a sign (you can see Big Buddha’s head at the top):

Near the bottom of the photo you’ll see a clothing stand. Nothing for sale here folks, it’s a sarong lending station. As a religious site, modest dress is required. It’s considered disrespectful to show your shoulders or wear short shorts or short skirts. And if someone deems to you be underdressed, you are given a loaner so you can cover up. Thankfully we dressed appropriately!

This is what it looked like as we entered:

There were little kiosks lining the entrance. These giant wheels are symbols of Buddism. (You can read more about them here.):

We walked a little farther. Big Buddha is about to come up on the right:

This was our first view as we rounded the corner:

… and here’s a wider view:

You cannot stand there and not feel very very small, but perhaps that is the point.

Big Buddha is at the top of a mountain and you can see it from miles away. It’s a nice view from here too:

Big Buddha is 45 metres tall, and actually pretty new. Building started in 2004 and according to Wikipedia, was 80% completed by 2017. As you can probably guess by the crane, there’s still a ways to go, but it is still quite grand.

I took about 100 photos and I don’t think they really do it justice.

This place feels very peaceful and spiritual, not touristy, which I was happy about. It definitely wasn’t busy when we went.

There are lots of other things to see, including a lovely garden in the back where you can buy a brass tag and leave a message or a blessing. There were thousands of these, hanging on every imaginable surface:

… and lovely fountains and places to pray and make offerings if you wanted:

There was an area underneath Big Buddha where you can learn how to pray and chant. I didn’t take many photos here, but it was really interesting to see. (Can you spot the cat?)

It was a pretty amazing way to spend a couple of hours, but there was more to come (and totally unexpected!) on the drive home. Remember I spoke about trust? Well, this was a biggie.